The New MUHC Hospital on the Glen: Responding to Challenges in Quebec’s Healthcare Model

Presented by Me Harris Poulis, BA, MA, LLB - General Counsel, Director of Legal Affairs, McGill University Health Centre.

Space is limited and lunch will be served, so we aske you to RSVP to rghl.law [at] mcgill.ca.

Abstract

The McGill University Health Centre is one of the leading academic healthcare institutions in North America and is the designated teaching hospital for McGill's Faculty of Medicine.

As of April 2010, after over 10 years of planning, the MUHC received the official green light from the provincial government for the construction of new facilities at the Glen site. This project is one of the largest private-public partnerships in Canadian history.

However, the actual scope of the project has decreased from that of its original size. What implications and challenges does this pose for healthcare workers? What are the challenges in moving forward this project but under a PPP model? What are the necessary partnerships in making sure that this project succeeds? These are some of the issues which will be discussed.

Biography

Harris Poulis joined the McGill University Health Centre in 2006 as a special advisor to the director general and chief executive officer, managing internal and external policy relations in the public and private domain. In 2008, he was promoted to his current role where he was instrumental in the negotiations for the $1.34-billion, award-winning financing and legal structure of the MUHC's public-private partnership with the McGill Health Infrastructure Group consortium.

As general counsel and director of legal affairs, Me Poulis oversees the legal operations for the MUHC's six hospitals. Among his responsibilities, he analyses laws and regulations as they pertain to healthcare administration, medical professionals and patients; provides strategic counsel to the senior management team; oversees the preparation of resolutions and bylaws for the board of directors of the MUHC; and drafts or oversees partnership and leasing agreements.

Prior to joining the MUHC, he spent a number of years as political attaché for Quebec's former minister of natural resources, Christos Sirros.

Me Poulis is a guest lecturer and occasional professor in the department of Business Administration (continuing education) at Concordia University, where he has taught commercial law, management relations, business communications and other courses since 1997. He has also been a guest lecturer in the Desautels School of Management at McGill University and in the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University.

Me Poulis earned his Law degree from the University of Ottawa, receiving the Jacques Gaudreau Memorial Prize for his scholarly achievement, as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Political Science from McGill University. He recently completed a Master's degree in Practice Management in McGill's International Masters for Health Leadership programme, and is a member of the Quebec Bar, the Canadian College of Health Services Executives and the Canadian Bar Association.